A few quick-hitters on the Bruins' 4-0 loss to the Canadiens on Monday night at the Bell Centre in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference second-round series.

By Dan CagenDaily News staff

A few quick-hitters on the Bruins' 4-0 loss to the Canadiens on Monday night at the Bell Centre in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference second-round series.

SET FOR SEVEN: Lars Eller scored just over two minutes into the game, the Canadiens added two goals in the second period and forced a decisive Game 7 by cruising past the Bruins in front of a rabid home crowd.

The Bruins had their chances to make this a game, but their top scorers couldn't convert in key moments. Milan Lucic notably had an open net in the second period, but clipped the shot and it went across the goal mouth and out. Shortly after, Max Pacioretty converted a breakaway and then Thomas Vanek scored on the power play to put Montreal up by a field goal.

Carey Price made 26 saves in recording his first shutout of the series and fourth career playoff shutout.

Rask made 24 saves and came up big several times, but his teammates' mistakes and his uncertainty on Pacioretty's goal made his best stops not nearly enough on this night. After limiting Montreal's leakouts the last two games, the Habs got loose far more often. Montreal outshot Boston 28-26, including 23 shots in the first two periods.

Game 7 will be Wednesday night at TD Garden, the ninth time these ancient rivals have needed seven games to decide a series. The winner will play in the Eastern Conference finals over the weekend

MILLER'S MISTAKE: Some good forechecking and a rare major gaffe by Kevan Miller put the Canadiens ahead early, the exact spot the Bruins wanted to avoid.

Miller's partner Torey Krug had the puck in the left corner and wanted to push up the ice. But Rene Bourque prevented him from going up the boards and Lars Eller denied a breakout pass to Carl Soderberg in the slot, so Krug was forced to go D-to-D behind the net.

Miller couldn't corral Krug's backhand feed, though, hitting off his stick and kicking right in front of the net. Tuukka Rask made a move for it but couldn't find the rubber, and Eller scored into the yawning net.

For the last half of the first period, Krug was bumped up to the second pairing while Matt Bartkowski played with Miller. The pairings returned to normal for the second period.

Miller again got in Rask's way on Montreal's third goal. Miller fell over in the crease and limited Rask's mobility as Thomas Vanek cashed in on the rebound at the opposite post.

MAX ON: Pacioretty finally got the better of Zdeno Chara.

Pacioretty scored his first goal of the series, busting loose on a breakaway midway through the second period to put the Habs up 2-0. It was a game-changing goal. The Bruins were pushing for the equalizer and it took the life out of their sails; the Habs soon went up 3-0 on Vanek's power-play goal and put the game away.

Chara and Rask misplayed the Pacioretty goal (probably the first time that sentence has been written this season). Chara slowed up in the neutral zone and seemed to want to avoid taking the penalty. He did the reach around to go for the puck, but Pacioretty burst past him.

Rask had started to come out, but then backed up when Chara couldn't get to it. As he was backtracking, Pacioretty scored 5-hole.

Rask did make some big saves, and his numbers are hurt by not actually getting off the ice on Vanek's empty-net goal in the third period, but he has to play that better.

MISSED AGAIN: The Bruins again made it a habit of missing out on big-time chances, including some early that could have altered the tenor of the game.

Loui Eriksson hit the crossbar in the first period off a feed from Carl Soderberg, unofficially the 12th post or crossbar hit by the Bruins in this series. David Krejci and Lucic fumbled a 2-on-1 bid shortly after Eller's opening goal. Lucic missing an open net in the second was a killer.

Also David Desharnais robbed Jarome Iginla in the third period by knocking the puck off the goal line.

The Bruins felt they gifted the Habs this one.

ETC.: There were 28 minutes of penalties handed out in the final 30 seconds, all sparked by Andrei Markov's spear to Chara's groin. Chara punched Mike Weaver with his right hand and Jarome Iginla knocked down Weaver along the boards. Keep an eye on how this carries into Game 7, if at all. … The one decent thing about a blowout loss is the ice time gets spread out. Chara played just 21:35 to lead the team. … Miller had some big-time gaffes, but also blocked seven shots and had six hits. … Vanek has four goals in the series, but three are on the power play and one on an empty net. He still hasn't been that effective 5-on-5, but two goals can be a boost for a goalscorer. … With both Eastern Conference second-round series going seven games, look for Game 1 of the conference finals to begin Saturday afternoon.